New Ghostbusters The Game Dev Diary

April 8, 2009

New Ghostbusters The Game Dev
Diary

Red Fly Studio, developer of the Wii
version of Atari's upcoming Ghostbusters game, has released a new developer
diary on the progress of the game. In it, Jeff Mills, Director of Production,
lays out the weapons and items in the Ghostbusters' arsenal. You can read the
whole diary below.

The Gadgets and Gear of the
Ghostbuster

Jeff Mills
Director of Production
Red Fly Studio

Tools of the trade

Since Ghostbusters Wii follows the
storyline written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, a specific stockpile of
gadgets and devices are required to match the dialog and story elements. The
default Ghostbusters gear (proton pack, trap and PKE meter) were a no-brainer,
but some of the newer, cool gadgets developed by Terminal Reality and Dan
Aykroyd for the Xbox360/PS3 version weren’t specifically tailored for the Wii.
Therefore, we decided to focus on the Wii's one-of-a-kind controller that offers
more natural-feeling control options not only through a few simple, well-placed
motion-based gestures but also by aiming directly into the game with an
on-screen targeting reticule.

Standard equipmentOf course we couldn't make a Ghostbusters game without the most basic tools
in the paranormal investigators toolset. Anyone who has seen the movies will
recognize the proton beam, the default tool for any Ghostbuster. Its signature
orange and blue lightning spills uncontainable from the tip of the Neutrona Wand
and destroys just about everything it hits. Against ghosts, it weakens their
spectral energy. Once the ghost's energy is exhausted, the beam wraps around it
like a lasso, giving the player a chance to wrangle the ghost into a trap.

An upgrade to the original proton
packs comes in the form of the boson dart, a super de-polarized burst of boson
particles that overcharges the beam briefly, sending a miniature sun along the
length of the beam to destroy anything it touches. It can drain a ghost's energy
in one or two shots, but it overheats the pack very quickly. It should be used
with caution. (But it usually isn't.)

The ghost trap hasn't changed much
since it was last seen in the movies. It still performs its intended function
admirably. Any time a weakened ghost is dragged above it, it automatically
triggers, opening its tiny gate and emitting a ghost-pulling cone of energy that
can suck any ghost into its mysterious core.

Every Ghostbuster is equipped with
the standard PKE Meter and Ecto-Goggles (also called Para-Goggles). The
distinctive handheld ghost-sensing device alerts the player when ghosts are near
and can be used to track ghosts. The Goggles are a separate view mode, giving
the player a first-person perspective through his avatar's eyes into the ghost
world beyond. Ectoplasmic residue and other details, hints and clues are visible
only through the lenses of this paranormal tracking device.

"He slimed me"The player's upgraded prototype proton pack has a slime-launching mode that
not only harms negatively-charged enemies but also coats targeted objects with
positively-charged slime. He can then "wrangle" the goo-splattered object in
much the same way ghosts are wrangled. This gives the player a certain level of
control over the environment in ways that don't involve just running and
gunning. Using the Wii's pointer, the player can manipulate elements in the
world to solve complex puzzles that challenge the mind as well as the reflexes.
Adding to this mechanic, the player can also fire a boson dart into a wrangled
object to launch it like a missile across the environment, so the player can
expect some challenging dual-stage puzzles which require him to not only find
and acquire a critical object but also line up a shot like a billiards ball to
plug his wrangled object into a distant socket.

The secondary mode of the slime
blower traps an ever-expanding gob of positive slime at the nozzle of the
modified proton wand. The player fills that wobbling lump of slime as much as he
can before releasing it as a slime mine. One well-placed slime mine can splatter
an entire area with positive slime, washing away any traces of the negative
black slime that protects certain enemies.

Hold stillAnother new device Egon invents during the course of the game is the Stasis
Beam which allows the player to immobilize specters. When swarmed by ghosts, the
player can lock all of the ghosts in place temporarily while he deals with one
specific threat at a time. The stasis beam's effect is short-lived, so players
must cautiously juggle the tasks of keeping some ghosts immobilized while
trapping others.

If the player is feeling overwhelmed
by swarming wisps or other small, non-trappable monsters, he should activate the
secondary mode of the stasis beam: the Shock Blast. Not only does this
concentrated pulse of stasis energy blast ghosts back, it deals tremendous
damage to any nearby monsters or the highly destructible environment. Simple
wisps pop like balloons when caught in the blast radius of this tool, and it
also eliminates the small objects (furniture, appliances and the like) that
phantoms will otherwise possess and use as weapons against the player.

Ready to rollEquipped with all of this gear, the player is ready to take on any
supernatural challenge thrown at him. The PKE meter and Ecto-Goggles lead him to
the ghosts. His proton beam and other tools weaken and stun the ghosts. His trap
finally locks the ghosts away for good. It's simple in concept, but utilizing
the right tools at the right time in the worst of conditions is more than
challenging enough to keep the player's pulse racing. It's a good thing he's not
going in alone!